Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Paranoid Park (2007)

8/06/2023

Paranoid Park (2007) - Van Sant's tender skater kid drama

♥♥♥♥

Disturbing elements cause tension around the main image of the androgynous main character on this poster for Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park

Alex is a young skater with a disintegrating family in Portland, Oregon. One night he becomes guilty of accidental manslaughter. What does he do?

Paranoid Park is written, directed and edited by Kentuckian master filmmaker Gus Van Sant (Mala Noche (1986)), whose 12th feature it is. It is based on the same-titled 2006 novel by Blake Shelton (Gender Blender (2006)).

Van Sant has such a keen sense of the lives of the young, and he makes the experiences portrayed here important simply by slowing things down and adding music.

Gabe Nevins (The Curio (2015)) is an underplaying find in the lead role. One scene with Alex and his father is ruined, when the latter comes into focus and amateur actor Jay Williamson's poor performance stands out.

Paranoid Park is beautifully photographed (by Christopher Doyle (The White Girl (2017)) and Rain Li (Uncertainty (2008))), and particularly the death scene is strong. SPOILER The ending is unsatisfying: The film's point evaporates, as it seems that Alex manages with his secret? Somehow unsatisfying.

Related posts:

Gus Van Sant: Promised Land (2012) or, Let's Get Your Small Town A-fracka-lackin'!

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Top 10: Best 'box office success' movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

Elephant (2003) - Van Sant's masterpiece about an unbearable crime

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Good Will Hunting (1997) or, The Genius Idiot

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: 4.5 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.5 times its cost)

[Paranoid Park premiered in March (Hong Kong International Film Festival) and runs 84 minutes. Van Sant wrote the first draft in 2 days. The final draft was just 33 pages long. He held an open audition advertised through a Myspace page, and nearly 3,000 youths auditioned. Shooting took place around October 2006 in Oregon, including in Portland. The film opened #62 to a 29k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #42 and in 37 theaters (different weekends), grossing 486k $ (10.8 % of the total gross). North America was its 2nd biggest market. France was the biggest with 1.8 mil. $ (40 %), and Italy was the 3rd biggest with 941k $ (20.9 %). The film won 1/3 Independent Spirit award nominations and an award at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was in the main competition, lost to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, among other honors. Van Sant returned with To Each His Own Cinema (2007, segment) and 8 (2008, segment) before his own theatrical return with Milk (2008). Nevins returned in Wendy and Lucy (2008). Paranoid Park is certified fresh at 77 % with a 7.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Paranoid Park?

No comments:

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (6-24)

8/06/2023

Paranoid Park (2007) - Van Sant's tender skater kid drama

No comments:

Post a Comment

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

My Blog List